Fig. 417.—Close helmet, Hatfield House, showing umbril.
The Cavalry consisted chiefly of demi-lancers clad in half-armour, and many suits of this character are preserved in museums. It was, as a rule, of better quality and finish than that served out to the footmen, the defences for the arms being complete, and lobster-tail tassets reaching to and covering the knees. The head was protected by the close helmet or open casque, which is furnished as a rule with a comb, an umbril over the eyes, hinged ear-pieces, and a neckplate at the back where a holder was affixed for a plume ([Fig. 417]). A light armour, especially adapted for infantry and light cavalry, consisting of a breastplate and tassets which reached either to the middle of the thigh or to below the knee, was much in use during the sixteenth century and known as the Allecret. During the Maximilian period the officers were furnished with allecrets as a rule, while the Swiss soldiers especially were partial to this system, which defended only the vital parts of the body, and did not hamper the free movement of the limbs. For light cavalry it was of great advantage, as it gave much less trouble to the horses when the legs of the wearer were only partially defended, as with tassets. To the lance and sword which were always carried the pistol was added, this being generally a wheel-lock dag with a long barrel, the charges or cartridges being enclosed in a steel case called a patron. Troops called Dragoons came into being, who dispensed with the lance and used as their chief weapon a long wheel-lock pistol termed a dragon from the shape of its muzzle, which was modelled similarly to the head of that mythical monster. The barrel of the dragon was approximately of the same length as the modern carbine. The mounted arquebusier either discharged his piece when on horseback, resting it in a fork which projected upwards from the front of the saddle, or else dismounted to fire in the same manner as the footman.
There were a number of Courses or methods of combat in tournaments during the Middle Ages, but the three chief were the Das Deutsche Stechen, the Sharfrennen, and the Italian Course or Über die Pallia.
1. The Das Deutsche Stechen. This is generally known as the German Course, and was in use in the early mediæval period. The chief object of the knight was to splinter his lance, or unhorse his opponent, and with that end in view the saddles were unprovided with the usual high plate at the back. The lance possessed a sharp point, and the small shield upon the left side of the rider, which simply depended from straps and was not borne by the left arm, was the part aimed at by the opponents. The shield in the Wallace suit ([Fig. 418]) is 14 inches wide, and made of oak over an inch in thickness. This form of tilting was run with lances having a rebated coronal head in the later mediæval period. The suit mentioned has no leg armour except the tuilles, and the right hand no gauntlet, according to custom. About the middle of the fifteenth century a salade was used instead of the heaume, but a special kind of heaume like a truncated cone was used in the sixteenth century.
Fig. 418.—Suit for the Das Deutsche Stechen Course, c. 1485. (Wallace Collection.)